Rising Smoke: Redux
by VolcanicPizza
Summary: A ShadowClan apprentice named Smokepaw fell to his death during the Great Journey. Yet, he did not die. Broken by his fall and alone in the mountains, Smokepaw will be forced to make his own life and forge his own destiny. If he's going to have any hope of getting back to ShadowClan, he'll need to find the way there. Of course, it's not going to be a simple matter. (HIATUS for now)
1. The Apprentice

**A/N: Here we are, the first chapter of the Smokepaw's Quest Redux! For those of you who didn't read the original, don't worry about not knowing what's going on. Let's just say there's a reason I decided to rewrite my first ever Warriors fic and leave it at that.**

 _Here we are._

 _On a journey._

 _To find new land for our Clan._

 _Doesn't sound all that great, come to think of it._

The gray tom squinted across the mountains. ShadowClan and the other three Clans had traveled far from the forest after its destruction by Twolegs. He had almost been killed during the Twoleg invasion of the ShadowClan camp, so he knew firsthand how brutal and vicious they were.

Leaving had, at the time, seemed the only option. Considering the overwhelming evidence that the Twolegs weren't just there to wander around in the forest making weird yowling noises like they had in the past, that still stood.

Smokepaw looked nervously over at his mother, Nightwing, as the long chain of cats made its way up the side of the mountain. She gave him a reassuring smile and slightly moved her head.

 _Well, if you're sure it's safe._ The gray apprentice stepped onto the ledge...

And with a sickening jolt, it gave way beneath him.

The rock crumbled away from the mountain. With a startled meow, Smokepaw scrabbled helplessly at the side of the mountain, but it was hopeless, and the unforgiving stone rushed away from him.

He plummeted down, and his only thought was, _No, no, no, I'm not ready to join StarClan yet! Please, no..._

Nightwing screeched his name as the cats receded above him until he could barely make out their outlines.

He hit the bottom.

He heard something break with a long snap. A rising wave of black plummeted over Smokepaw. Weakly he tried to fight it, but it was no use, and everything went dark.

* * *

Some time later, Smokepaw awoke.

His first thought was, _What's going on?_

He was lying on a dense bed of gravel. Small grayish plants poked from the ground around him, waving their leaves desperately in the air for light. A small cave entrance loomed next to the gray tom, ominous and dark.

 _I fell down this stupid hole! I have to get back out before I'm left behind!_

The dark gray tom shook out his fur. Pieces of gravel clattered to the stony floor around him. He tried to hoist himself upright, only to feel a sharp pain in his leg. He whimpered as he realized it was broken, and rolled onto his side in near-defeat.

An eagle soared above him, its harsh cry echoing around the mountains. With a jolt, Smokepaw realized he'd be crow-food soon if he didn't get out of here.

He managed to pull himself upright again onto three of his legs, holding the injured one in the air. Taking short, halting steps that grew more confident as he went on, he walked towards that cave entrance.

The eagle keened above, having spotted him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw it go into a dive.

 _If I'm not made a warrior after having to go through this,_ the apprentice thought furiously, heaving himself forward, _then so help me StarClan..._

Smokepaw's front half was barely into the cave before the eagle swooped down at him. Talons bit deep into his skin, pulling but not quite lifting him off his feet. He cried out and felt blood gush from the wound. The eagle soared up again, its shadow blotting out the sun. Smokepaw braced for the inevitable impact that would come now that he was in his weakened state.

It never came, and Smokepaw looked up in relief to see the eagle soaring away. Why, he didn't know. Perhaps he was too big to get back out of the valley.

One thing was clear, though.

 _I'm alive! Thank you, StarClan!_

He twisted his head to where the eagle had attacked him to see his gray fur matted and soaked with blood. Wincing, the gray tom began to lick the blood away. _I wish I had a cobweb or something to stop the bleeding, but I don't even know where I am! I could already be in StarClan for all I know and this is just some test._

That, though, could be worried about later. Curling into an exhausted ball, the gray apprentice slept uneasily, dreams haunted by his mother's terrified scream.

* * *

"Hey, you there! Yeah, you. Wake up!"

Smokepaw heard voices. _I hope that whoever these cats are, they're friendly, because I'm not strong enough to fight right now._

"Is he dead?" This voice seemed concerned, and Smokepaw relaxed a little. _If they sound like that and they don't even know me, I should be fine._

"No, I don't think so..." A paw gently prodded Smokepaw's side. "He looks close to joining his ancestors, though. Hey, you! Wake up!"

Smokepaw reluctantly opened his eyes to see a stockily built gray tom looking down at him. Besides him were a brown she-cat and another gray tabby tom.

"Uhh... Where am I?" Smokepaw managed.

The she-cat gasped. "Crag, look at his leg! And... his side..."

The gray tom turned to look at the she-cat. "I'm not blind, Brook. I think it's broken. As for his side, I'd say an eagle did that." Turning back to Smokepaw, the tom stated, "You're lucky to be alive right now if that was an eagle that attacked you."

The gray tabby spoke up. "We should take him back to Stoneteller. He can heal his wounds, and at the very least point him in the right direction if he's trying to go somewhere."

Crag nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps you're right, Stormfur. Can you walk on that leg, kit?"

Smokepaw would have taken affront at being called a kit, but he knew it wasn't wise to be angry at the people who were trying to help him. He attempted to talk but coughed. The rocky dust around him clogged his throat, and he shook his head.

"I don't think he can." Stormfur meowed. "We can carry him back. No cat should be left alone on the mountains."

Crag picked Smokepaw up in his teeth and flicked his tail at the other cats. Smokepaw saw rock rushing by and closed his eyes.

 _At least I'm safe for now._

 **A/N: So how'd y'all like the redux? For those of you who are new to Smokepaw's Quest, what'd you think? Please give me feedback in a review!**


	2. The Awakening

**A/N: Well. Uh.**

 **I just realized how long it's been since I updated.**

 **Hope I can make up for the long wait with this chapter.**

* * *

Smokepaw's eyes fluttered open, and he blinked uncertainly as convoluted clear structures came into his view. He limply tried to turn away, but the structures followed him, and he realized that they were attached to him, more specifically, his eyelashes. Along with his fur, they were encrusted with them. The wind was howling, and he blinked away the harsh, blinding snowflakes and the binding tendrils of ice and tried to struggle away.

"Keep still," a reassuring voice meowed, and Smokepaw twisted his head around as the snow and rock flew around him.

"Where... what..?" Smokepaw couldn't form words correctly, his mind addled by the cold.

"Hold still!" snarled a different voice. "It's not much farther to the cave, now quit wiggling!"

The gray tom consented, letting his movements still. His bones ached, and his snow-veiled vision began to dim again.

His eyes slowly shut as the battering wind ripped and tore at his fur, and his beleaguered body allowed itself to come to rest.

* * *

Smokepaw's eyes slowly blinked open, and the first thing that he noticed was that the ice was missing from his vision. Clearly, it had either melted away or someone had been kind enough to clean it off for him.

The second thing that he noticed was that he was in a dark cavern. Rocky protrusions loomed all around him, fencing in a clear pool of water.

"Where am I?" he asked groggily, trying to stand. His hind leg wouldn't move, and he hazily wondered why. Something about a long fall came to mind, but he dismissed that as absurd. Surely he'd never venture away from the safety of his home?

A tabby face appeared above him. "Ah, you're awake at last."

Memories crashed over Smokepaw, and he remembered everything that had happened to him- the destruction, the journey, the fall.

 _All of it._

He wanted to yowl in agony, to cry out his pain at the unforgiving stones surrounding him, but instead settled for a much simpler query: "Where am I?"

"You're in the Cave of Pointed Stones, within the camp of the Tribe of Rushing Water. I am Stoneteller, the Tribe's healer." the tom meowed.

Smokepaw struggled into a sitting position and realized there was something over his leg. When he looked more closely, he saw a few sticks and some kind of wound plants around his leg.

 _First things first. Have to set my priorities straight._ "Have you seen a group of cats passing through here?" He tried to collect his thoughts to convey his question to the outsider in a way that he would understand. "A really large group, calling themselves Clans? They should have come through here not too long ago."

A shadow passed over Stoneteller's face, but asides from that his calm, wise expression remained unblemished. "The Clans? You belong to them?"

"Yes, and I need to get back to them as soon as I can." Smokepaw tried to lift himself onto his feet, but the binding left him unable to and he flopped back down. "Please, are they here with you?"

"They were, but I'm afraid your efforts are futile." the aged tabby replied. "They left some time ago."

"What?" yowled Smokepaw. He pushed himself up back again, gritting his teeth against the pain. "I have to go find them! They can't leave without me! They can't!"

"They did." Stoneteller replied. In a dry tone, he added. "Apparently, you weren't as important as you thought you were to them."

Before Smokepaw could object to that, Stoneteller continued, "Anyway, you can't go after them. Your leg will take time to heal, so you'll stay with us until then."

Too tired to argue, Smokepaw sank back down onto his stomach, feeling more lost than ever. For every moment he wasted sitting here, the Clans would move farther away from the desolate mountains and the odds of him ever seeing his family- his mother- again decreased.

 _I will find a way home, no matter what it takes._ affirmed the gray apprentice to himself, the thought filling him with determination. _I_ will _see my family again._


End file.
